Through the Void: It's Coming

Through the Void
Part 1: It's Coming
By: WSmack



Rose Tyler and the Torchwood team from Pete's World are developing a Dimensional Cannon that will be able to bring Rose into the parallel world where her precious Doctor resides.  They know that the only way to stop The Darkness and keep the stars from going out is to find him.  However, it's their first test of the system and there's no knowing just where Rose will end up on the other side.  It's her first travel through the void and though she doesn't quite find what she's looking for, she finds something just as sweet.



"Are you ready, Rose?"

Without waiting for a response, a whir of machinery began to resonate throughout the room, growing to a quick crescendo.  The very ground began to vibrate slightly as a swell of energy began to rise up like a wave.  All the lights hummed softly and crackled with electricity as their lights pulsed and steadily grew stronger.  The room that had been dim to the point of darkness only moments before now glowed with bright white light, illuminating the faces of its occupants.

In the center of the room stood a lone woman, her shoulder-length blonde hair whipping about her pretty face as the energy of the room swirled around her.  Her eyes were squinted slightly against the sudden light as she tried desperately to hold on to the faces that surrounded her.

The edges of the room were lined with militant Torchwood soldiers, but there were three familiar faces that stood out from the blur of army camo and guns.  These were the ones that Rose focused on now.  It was Mickey, Jackie and Pete – her best friend, her mum and her dad.

Jackie had her hands pressed against her mouth in worry.  Her blue eyes were lined with tears as she watched her only daughter being slowly consumed by that strange alien light.  For about the millionth time in her life, she wished for nothing more than to run forward and hold her daughter in her arms, protecting her from all the dangers that seemed to inhabit this new world of hers.  However, she knew that there was no stopping Rose.  Especially not this time.

Pete and Mickey were more stoic, however, as they watched their precious Rose slowly fade into the bright white light.  Pete's hand gripped his wife's shoulder comfortingly and Mickey offered Rose a small departing smile and nod.  Both of these men knew that there was no use worrying about Rose.  She was doing this whether they liked it or not and she was more than capable of taking care of herself, no matter where she ended up.

The light had grown by now to a blinding white-blue and the ground buckled beneath their feet.  Rose spread her stance slightly in an effort to keep her balance.  There was a strange twisting in her stomach and she knew somehow already that this was going to work.  She glanced up one last time, but her family's faces were nothing but fading outlines now.  "I'll be back!" she tried to shout back to them, but her voice was lost in the noise of the machinery.  She squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding light and then suddenly, with a whoosh of energy, she was gone.

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With a small frightened yelp, Rose was thrust violently off her feet.  There was a pulse of blue light and a crackle of electricity as she connected solidly with the ground, and then the whirlwind of energy was suddenly gone.  Rose gasped loudly as she tried to catch her breath.  Her head was spinning like a top and she was forced to squeeze her eyes shut and press the heels of her hands to her temples for a few moments before it finally set itself straight.  She never realized just how much she appreciated that great big blue box with its unstable, rocky flight pattern until it was gone and she was forced to travel between worlds with nothing protecting her but her own skin.

She let out a small groan as she slowly allowed her eyes to open and examine her surroundings.  Her head was still pounding and her stomach was queasy, but she knew that she had no time to waste.  There was no knowing when the portal would open again and she would have to walk back through to her parallel universe.

Slowly she straightened her body, wincing as she stood to her feet and gingerly rubbed her sore knees where they had been mercilessly slammed into the ground.  "Is it going to be like this every time?" she wondered aloud, hoping desperately that it would get easier the more she traveled through the parallel worlds.

Suddenly there was a metallic clang and a familiar whooshing sound that made Rose's heart skip a beat.  There was only one thing in all of the universes that could possibly make that sound!

Rose whirled around, despite the aches of her body that protested against it, and let out a sound of sheer delight that was somewhere between a gasp of pleasure and a bark of laughter.  She was inside the console room of the TARDIS!  She had dreamed of this fantastic machine so many times in her parallel world that as she gazed around at the familiar surroundings, it was almost as if she had never been away.  Everything was exactly as she had left it: the same glowing green time rotor, same metal mesh floor, same battered and cluttered console.  There was only one thing missing…

There was a crash from the opposite side of the console that made Rose jump.
"Oi, who's there?" came a voice from below the TARDIS console.  There was a rattling sound as the mesh flooring slid back and a head popped up from under the floor.  The voice was so impossibly familiar, his Northern accent just as thick as she remembered it.

"Oh, my God," Rose said to herself, her voice a breathless murmur.  "Doctor?"  Her heart was beating double-time against her chest by now.  She wanted more than anything for it to be him.  Every fiber of her being hoped and prayed that it would be him.

The man who had just poked his head out from underneath the TARDIS floor turned to look at her, concern and confusion written across his features.  "Rose?"

Rose's breath caught in her throat and she let out an audible gasp of surprise as she took in those familiar features.  It was the Doctor, alright.  Her Doctor, before he regenerated.  The Doctor with the dark leather jacket and startlingly blue eyes.  The one who had grasped her hand all those years ago and told her to run.  "D-Doctor?" she gasped again, completely lost for words.  "Is that really you?"

"Of course it's me!" he replied, his brow creasing further as his worry grew.  "Rose, is something wrong?  I thought you were going to bed?"

Another strangled noise left Rose's lips as she fought back the tears that pricked the back of her eyes.  Could it really be him?  She knew that her first couple times traveling through the void and into a parallel universe would probably be dodgy at best, but never in a million years had she been expecting this.  Evidently she had crossed more than just worlds – she had crossed time, as well.

Rose watched in wide-eyed amazement as the Doctor hauled himself out from beneath the floor and turned to face her.  She hadn't realized just how much she missed her old Doctor until this very second.  The emotions swirling around inside her chest threatened to knock her off her feet again.  

He tilted his head slightly as he watched her examining him and raised a questioning brow in her direction.  "Rose?" he said again, his voice low.  "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"It's you!" Rose blurted despite herself.  "It's really you!"  Before she could stop to remind herself that meddling in other worlds – let alone other times – was a dangerous and risky business, she leapt forward and flung her arms around his neck.  She had been dreaming about the day when she would finally hold the Doctor in her arms again, but in her dreams the Doctor had been wearing a brown suit and trainers.  She had never in a million years dreamed that she might once again be holding this Doctor – the one with the black leather jacket – ever again.  She pressed her body desperately against his, yearning to be as close to him as possible.

"What's gotten into you, then?" the Doctor asked in shock as he slowly allowed his own strong arms to fold around his dear companion.  "You're acting as though you haven't seen me in years."

Rose let out a small, sad laugh as tears finally fought their way through and began to streak down her cheeks.

Slowly, the Doctor pulled away so that he could see her tear-streaked face.  "Rose, what is it?" he asked gently.  "Just tell me."  He had never seen her act like this, and it was really starting to unsettle him.

"I don't really know how to explain it," Rose muttered, shaking her head as tears continued to stream freely down her face.  "I'm… I'm not your Rose.  I'm from the future.  I'm from… another world."

The Doctor's brow only creased further as he tried to soak in her words.  "You're from… another world?  A parallel world?  How is that possible?"

"That's not what's important," Rose replied hurriedly.  She knew that she had to evade his questions at all costs.  She had already been reminded numerous times by the staff at Torchwood that she couldn't interfere in other universes.  The wrong word at the wrong time just may very well ruin a world.  "What is important is that I'm here now."

She flashed a weak smile and stepped away from their embrace, but the Doctor was not so easily convinced.  He knew that something was going on, here, and there was something that this Rose-from-another-world wasn't telling him.

However, just as he opened his mouth to press her further, Rose interrupted him, effectively changing the subject.  "So, where are you up to right now?  What have you been doing?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment as he sized up his companion.  Something about her was… different.  She looked older than the Rose who was sleeping safe and sound in her bedroom just down the hallway.  More than anything, he wanted to know what she was up to.  Clearly she was from his future.  He wondered just how far in the future that was and if she was still with him.  He knew more than anyone how quickly old companions faded away, but thinking of Rose like that made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

Finally – as he was so used to doing – he pushed down his true questions about the past and future and decided to focus on the present.  With his signature goofy smile he made a large, sweeping gesture towards the TARDIS console.  Propped on top was a round, oblong object with stringy, branch-like arms projecting from its top.  "Just came from Earth, actually," he replied.  "Got done ridding the world of the Slitheen.  Again.  You were there.  And Captain Jack and Rickey.  Now you and Jack are both off sleeping."  With a slight shake of his head he added, "I don't understand you humans.  You always seem to be sleeping.  I don't see the point of sleep.  It just wastes time, if you ask me."

Rose smiled and shook her head fondly at him.  The Doctor hadn't changed one bit.  Oh, how she had missed him.  She wasn't even annoyed that he called Mickey "Rickey".  "So, that's Margaret, then?" she asked, pointing at the Slitheen egg propped upon the TARDIS console.  "That means that you must be on your way to Raxacoricofallapatorius."  Rose let out a small laugh as she added, "It all seems as though it was just yesterday."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest.  "So tell me, future-other-world-Rose, just how far ahead are you from?"

However, Rose didn't need to think up a clever line to dodge this question.  Her mind was racing as she thought back to that visit to Earth all that time ago.  Back when it had been her, Mickey, Jack and the Doctor all bouncing around Cardiff together.  It seemed like ages ago, but she could still remember every detail.  And as she recalled Margaret the Slitheen, she remembered her sinister project to implode the planet.  The Blaidd Drwg Project.

A look of fear had fallen over Rose's face and the Doctor hadn't missed it.  "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice immediately losing all of its light-heartedness and turning stonily serious once more.  "Rose, what is it?"

"Blaidd Drwg," Rose muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What about it?" the Doctor pressed her.

"The Bad Wolf.  It's coming.  Doctor, it's coming."

"What are you talking about?"  The Doctor had known that the words had been following them for some time.  Obviously this Rose-from-the-future knew what they meant, and he was determined to find some answers.  He gripped her shoulders and brought her close so that she would be forced to look him in the eye.  "Rose, what does 'Bad Wolf' mean?"

"I… I can't…" Rose muttered desperately, shaking her head as tears filled the corners of her eyes once more.  Just looking into the Doctor's blue eyes was becoming difficult now.  She knew that he didn't have much longer left.  Soon the Daleks and the Bad Wolf would come, and then he would regenerate into someone new.  This Doctor's time was drawing to a close and he had no idea that it was coming.  She wished more than anything that she could warn him or find a way to save him, but she knew that she couldn't possibly interfere in such a way.  It could rip a hole right through space and time and then she would never be able to find the Doctor – the one that had left her standing all alone on Bad Wolf Bay – and warn him about The Darkness.

"You said 'it's coming'," the Doctor continued, unwilling to take no for an answer.  His grip around her arms tightened.  "What is it?  If my Rose – the one just down the hall, there – is in trouble, then I need to know about it."

"No, no.  She'll be fine," Rose assured him, though in her mind she silently added, For now.  Her second adventure on Satellite 5 wouldn't be her last.  She already knew that it was Canary Wharf that would eventually destroy her.  "But, there is something coming, Doctor," she added, her voice fading once more to a whisper.  "You have to be careful."

The Doctor looked down into Rose's wide brown eyes with a calculating expression as he attempted to soak in all of this information.  Something was definitely coming – that he could already sense.  But he had no idea what it was and it was becoming increasingly obvious that this Rose wasn't going to be telling him any secrets from the future.  She had promised his Rose's safety, which he was grateful for, but there was still an uneasiness in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite ignore.  "Careful?" he finally asked with a sarcastic scoff.  "I'm always careful.  You know me."

He flashed her another playful grin, but this time Rose wasn't going to let him change the subject so easily.  "No, Doctor," she insisted.  This time, it was she who reached out and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to turn back and face her.  "You have to listen to me.  There's going to come a point when I won't be there to help you.  You're going to lose all faith.  You're going to give up.  And I don't want that to happen."  Her voice broke then as a million emotions swelled in her throat.  A few tears trickled from her eyes as she looked up at her dear Doctor.  "You can't give up, Doctor.  There's always a way out.  You have to trust me on this one.  You have to trust yourself."

The Doctor listened to all of this in weary silence, weighing every word that was spoken.  He knew just as well as she did that too much insight on the future could lead to catastrophic events.  However, he was going to take all the hints that he could get at this point.  The fear in this Rose's eyes made him fear for his own Rose.  If something this bad was coming, how could he possibly protect her?

Suddenly there was a flash of blue and then a portal was opening up, right there in the middle of the TARDIS.  The Doctor took a small shocked step backward.  "What… what is that?" he asked, eyes wide as he watched the bright blue light flicker around the dark hole.

"That's my ride," Rose replied, her voice so soft he almost didn't hear it over the sound of sparking energy that came from the portal.  "I have to go now."

"Rose, I don't think you should go in there," the Doctor murmured, his eyes still locked on the strange inter-dimensional portal.  "Isn't that the void?  You can't travel through that, Rose!  You'll be lost forever!"

"It's okay," she assured him, smiling easily despite the tears that continued to streak down her face.  "I'll be safe.  I've done it before."

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, but he didn't get the chance.  Suddenly his future-other-world-Rose had thrown herself around his neck once more and her lips were pressed solidly against his own.  For a moment he simply froze, entirely unsure of what to do.  It would be a lie to say that he hadn't thought of this moment before, but now that it was finally happening, he found himself to be quite at a loss.  However, as his hearts beat erratically against his chest, he knew that this wasn't exactly the moment to question things.

Slowly, the Doctor allowed his arms to slip around Rose's waist as she pressed herself closer to him.  His eyelids slid shut as he allowed himself to revel in the soft pressure of her lips.  It was a million times sweeter than he had ever imagined.

Before he was ready, Rose had pulled herself away.  "I'm sorry," she murmured, her voice constricted as tears continued to streak down her pretty cheeks.  "I have to go."

"Go where?" the Doctor asked, his own voice slightly husky as he recovered from the passionate pulse that still throbbed in his veins.

Rose opened her mouth, ready to say, Home, but suddenly that didn't seem to be the right word.  She had always felt slightly displaced in that parallel universe, but never had she been so far from calling it home.  More than anything she wished that she could stay here with the Doctor – the place where she truly belonged.  But she knew that it was all just a hopeless dream.  She had to leave him to fight his own adventures, with his own Rose Tyler.

"Good-bye," she whispered as she stepped closer to the inter-dimensional portal.  Just as she stepped into the blue light and felt the energy begin to close in around her, she whispered one last, "I love you," and then she was gone.

"Wait!" the Doctor cried, reaching out as if to grab her back from the portal.  But she was already swallowed up by the void.  He really hoped that she knew what she was doing.  The void was not something to be tampered with.  He hadn't heard those last three fatal words she had whispered, but he knew from the look in her eyes and the tears on her cheeks that it had been a final good-bye.  He knew them all too well.

She had been so shocked and pleased to see him, and now she was gone.  Possibly forever.  So did that mean that in the future they weren't together?

With a last puzzled shake of his head, the Doctor turned back to the TARDIS console and propped his hands against it, his mind filled with questions over this strange encounter.  His lips were still tingling slightly from where Rose's kiss had been just moments before.  He knew that if nothing else, he had to at least take her warning to heart.  Something was coming.  Something bad.  And he needed to be prepared for it.

He circled the TARDIS console, pressing buttons and pulling levers as he went.  If danger was coming, then surely it was time to update Emergency Program One.  He never knew when things could take a sudden turn for the worst and though he hated to think about using it, he knew that he had to keep Rose – his Rose – safe at all costs.
Stepping away from the TARDIS console, he prepared himself for just exactly what he was going to say.

"Rose, now listen, this is important," he began, his tone formal and no-nonsense.  He could almost imagine seeing her if and when the Emergency Program was activated.  She certainly wouldn't be pleased with him, but that was beside the point.

"If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing: we must be in danger.  And I mean fatal.  I'm dead, or about to die any second with no chance of escape.  And that's okay – I hope it's a good death.  But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing.  The TARDIS is taking you home."

She would certainly protest against that.  The Doctor had to fight back a small smile as he continued his speech.  

"And I bet you're fussing and moaning now.  Typical.  But hold on, and just listen a bit more.  The TARDIS can never return for me.  Emergency Program One means that I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine.  So this is what you should do: let the TARDIS die.  Just let this old box gather dust.  No one can open it.  No one will even notice it.  Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner, and over the years the world will move on and the box will be buried.  And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing.  That's all: one thing."

The Doctor paused in his monologue, then.  A smile spread over his face as he imagined Rose listening to this message.  Because this was Emergency Program One, and that meant that this was it.  This was his good-bye.  Forever.  And he knew just what to say.
"Have a good life.  Do that for me, Rose.  Have a fantastic life."

He paused for a just a few more seconds as he let his words settle and the speech end and then he flicked the switch, ending the recording.  For a few moments he simply stood there in silence, smiling to himself.  He hated the idea of having to use this Emergency Program one day, but as far as good-byes went, he was rather pleased with himself.  It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough to save her.  And that's what counted.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor whirled on his heel to face the source of the intruding voice.  Standing there at the edge of the console room was Rose herself.  His proper-Rose in her pajamas with her pretty blonde hair mussed and her brown eyes heavy from sleep.

"Doctor, who were you talking to?" she asked groggily.  "I thought I heard voices."

"Oh, nothing to worry about," he replied simply, his goofy grin spreading across his features.  "You know me: silly old Doctor, talking to himself again."

"Well keep it down out here," Rose muttered with a smile.  "A girl has to sleep, you know.  I want to be all rested up when we get to Raxacori… Raxacorifall… oh, you know the one."

"Don't worry, you'll get it someday," the Doctor assured her, chuckling quietly to himself.  He watched as Rose turned and shuffled her way back down the hallway towards her bedroom.  Perhaps there really was danger lurking out there somewhere.  Perhaps it would take him away from his dear Rose forever.  But for now, all he could ever want was right here: safe and sound in the TARDIS.  And that was more than enough for him.